How To Protect Yourself Against Hackers
Are you worried that your tech stuff is insecure? You know all the ways that a hacker can spy and steal important and personal information, but how do you keep it safe? This chapter goes over how to write stronger passwords, how to guard against sniffers, and ransomware, how to keep safe on public Wi-Fi, and how to protect your home router.
Passwords Cracking passwords is the classic hacker move. They don’t need a lot of fancy technology or computers to perform this attack, so just about any beginner hacker can try and get you this way. The best way to protect yourself is to create a really strong password.
Here are some tips: Use a combo of symbols, upper and lowercase, and numbers Using a mixed password makes it much harder for a hacker to crack it. An 8-character password with symbols, numbers, and upper/lowercase letters is has 30,000 more combinations than an 8 character password that just uses lowercase letters. A hacker could take the time to use software to run through every combination, but they’re more likely to skip you and move onto someone who wasn’t as smart with their password.
Use a password that doesn’t have anything to do with your personal info.
Hackers will look at social media accounts for information like your spouse’s name, pets, and so on, because so many people use pieces of personal info for their password It’s way better to write a password that’s completely random and unrelated to your life. If your name is Jimmy and you were born in 1977, a password like “jimmy1977” will be very easy for a hacker to guess.
Use a different password for important accounts Instead of using one password for your email, bank, and other important accounts, create a unique one for each of them. That way, even if a hacker gets into one account, they don’t automatically get into all of them.
Use unique answers for your security passwords.
If you forget your password, most websites will have you answer a security question before sending you a link to recover it. Make that answer as unique as a password by adding numbers or symbols. If the question is “What was your first pet’s name,” don’t just have the answer be, “Muffin.” Make it “MuffiN#5,” or something else really random that a hacker wouldn’t be able to figure out by looking at your social media accounts.
Make sure your password key is safe.
If you have a bunch of passwords, you probably have them written down somewhere, but you will need to hide that key. Don’t leave physical notes around your computer, and if you do have the key on your computer, you want to hide it in a file that isn’t obviously important. You can also use a password manager, though do your research, because those can be hacked, too.
Add 2-step verification
This is arguably the best thing you can do for your personal security. It requires that you put in your username, password, and have access to your phone, so unless the hacker somehow has all three, they aren’t able to get into your account.
Brute-force attacks
A common attack against passwords is brute-force attacks. There are four ways you can protect yourself:
Keep encrypted data safe.
Once a hacker has actually copied your data, they can run as many brute- force attacks as they want. The key then is to prevent them from getting the data in the first place. Keep it encrypted, and keep it hidden. Don’t have a folder labeled “Important,” “Private,” or “Passwords” just sitting out in the open, and definitely don’t label files so obviously.
Make sure website logins limit.
password attempts Just about every login site does this, so it isn’t as big of a deal anymore. Still, just make sure all the sites you use have this feature.
Use long, secure passwords.
We discussed this in the section above, so just know that good passwords are essential to preventing brute-force attacks. You want to make the hacking work as difficult as possible, so a hacker loses interest and goes after an easier target.
Use strong encryption algorithms.
Encryption algorithms are utilities that basically turn your data into a jumbled code. Without the passcode, a hacker can’t read the data. The algorithms have names like Triple DES, RSA, and Blowfish. AES is considered one of the best today, provided that use 256-bit keys, as opposed to 128-bit. The 128-bit is easier for hackers to brute-force, while 256 takes a lot more time and computing power to crack.
Sniffers
To protect yourself against packet sniffers, you can install a tool that will let you know if someone on your network is using a sniffer. Called Antisniff, it can detect if someone is using a sniffer’s promiscuous mode to capture all your traffic. You can also use encryption, so even though the sniffer is getting all the information, it’s unreadable. If the hacker tries to modify anything to make it readable, the process can cause errors and will alert you that someone is trying to decrypt the data.
Social engineering
The most obvious defense against social engineering attacks is to use your brain. Be very skeptical of anything that comes your way, whether it’s a clickbait-like article, an IT alert, or “once in a lifetime” offer. Do a little research on the source. Try and trace them to see if they’re legitimate. If your friend posts something out of character, it’s probably not them. To reduce the number of social engineering attacks, install security programs that will block malware and viruses. Be sure the programs are effective, and don’t get more than you need. Every software has vulnerabilities, so even though they are meant to keep you secure, having too many programs comes with risks.
Clear out cookies on a regular basis,
which is a little file that gets stored on your computer when you visit a website, so the company of the website can track their consumers. Lock down your Facebook and other social media accounts using the privacy settings, so hackers aren’t able to find info on you they can use in phishing scams or other attacks.
Ransomware
The best defense against ransomware is to keep your data backed up, so if hackers do get your files, you have other copies to rely on. Backing up to the cloud is best, because hackers can get into your backup systems as well, if they break into your desktop and then into the network server. If you do choose to back up on a storage device that’s not the cloud, you want it to be offline, and not connected to a hackable desktop system. An external hard drive should be connected to the computer when you’re putting on the data, and then disconnected right away.
Don’t open suspicious emails/links.
One way that hackers install ransomware is by getting victims to open a malicious email or link. Another attack is called “malvertising,” which is when a hacker infects an ad email, so you believe you’re opening an email from The New York Times, but it’s ransomware. The easiest way to avoid the ransomware is to simply not open suspicious emails or links. To avoid those malverts, ad blockers can help. If companies are having trouble with employees accidentally installing ransomware, IT training can make a big difference. One company that does security awareness training said 15.9% of employees used to click on ransomware, but with training, it dropped to 1.2%.
Limiting apps and permissions.
Ransomware is a computer application, so by “whitelisting” only legitimate apps that you expressly approve, you can stop ransomware from getting installed on your computer. A computer admin can do this by scanning the computer, approving the legitimate apps, and then configuring the computer to stop all over files from installing. You can also limit permissions, so instead of having all the files on one server, the admin can break the workplace in smaller groups. That way, if one server gets attacked and locked by ransomware, not all the servers or files are compromised. By dividing up the files among a lot of servers, it makes hackers work a lot harder to get a satisfying number of files to hold hostage.
Disconnect to prevent spread.
What should you do if someone on the server does install ransomware? Disconnect. Disconnect the infected systems right away from the network at large, and disable any Bluetooth and WiFi on all the machines to stop the spread of the ransomware. It’s like cutting off a gangrenous limb before the infection spreads to the rest of the body. Once the rest of the system is safe, you can conduct an “autopsy” on what was infected, and figure out what to do next.
Keeping safe with public WiFi.
It’s very common to become a victim of man-in-the-middle attacks when you’re out in public, like at a coffee shop. Even if it has a password, that doesn’t mean it’s safe, because everyone in the coffee shop is on the same network, and often share passwords on review sites like Yelp. The first thing to do is make absolutely sure you aren’t connecting to a fake connection. Ask the coffee shop what their network is called. Once you’re on a shared network, make sure the websites you’re visiting are encrypted. Getting a browser extension like HTTPS Everywhere will send you to the encrypted version of any web page, if it’s available. With encrypted sites, a hacker will only be able to see where you are, but not what you’re doing, so login credentials are safe.
Another good idea is to pay for a VPN connection. VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks, are personal, private connections used to link to a public Internet connection. It shields you from viewers of the public connection. For the best security, you want a VPN even when you’re visiting encrypted sites, because the VPN will hide the your activity and the names of the sites you’re visiting. All a hacker will see is that someone is using a VPN connection.
Protecting your home router Securing a home router should primarily be the company’s job, but since they haven’t been doing it, there are ways you can protect yourself. The first thing to do is change your router’s administration password and username. It’s easy for a hacker to find the default credentials, so as soon as you get a router, change them. If a router doesn’t come with a default, add your own. You should also disable the remote administration, so a hacker can’t get control of the router from another computer. Once you’ve changed the credentials, you want to make the network name hard to guess. The name is called the SSID, and it will probably be something simple, like the manufacturer’s name. You want to change the SSID to something completely random and unique, so the hacker can’t guess anything about the router. The last two things that keep your router safe are updated firmware and a good encryption. Check the router’s advanced settings to make sure the firmware is current. If it isn’t, hackers could exploit what insecurities they know exist in old firmware. You should also use WPA2 encryption, which encrypts all the information the router transmits. Go to the advanced settings and enable the WPA2.
What’s next in the hacker world? We know what hackers are currently up to, but they’re always pushing the envelope and transforming their world. What does the future of hacking hold? Should we all be scared to death, or confident that the white hats will work just as hard as the black hats to keep everyone safe?
Credit ❤️ Hacking noob to Cyberpunk